Wolfe Tones dethrone reigning champions

There was no classic on offer at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday afternoon, but Wolfe Tones booked their place in the SFC final with a more comprehensive semi-final replay victory over Navan O'Mahonys than the scoreline might suggest. The build-up was clouded by controversy as Wolfe Tones appealed Stephen Corrigan's red card in the original tie and were ultimately successful when the midfielder was cleared to play late on Saturday evening. The disruption to the preparations didn't have an adverse effect on Wolfe Tones as they were the vastly superior side against a Navan O'Mahonys side that struggled to find any gear above first and failed to hit the heights that saw them advance to the semi-finals. Despite playing second fiddle for the majority of the contest O'Mahonys could have snatched another draw in the dying moments, but both Shane Gillespie and Jake Regan were denied goals by flying blocks from Eoghan Harrington. That hunger and desperation to keep O'Mahonys at bay, that was exemplified by Harrington, typified the spirit of Wolfe Tones as they produced a co-ordinated and effective defensive display that restricted O'Mahonys while in attack their constant moving had the champions rearguard stretched. It was a game where defences were prominent, but Wolfe Tones had a few inspirational moments from Cian Ward in the first-half that were enough to deflate O'Mahonys and leave them with an uphill mountain to climb. Ward kicked two frees from over 55 metres and he also lofted over a magnificent sideline from the terrace side to boost Wolfe Tones to a 0-8 to 0-4 interval lead. It was those moments of genius that lit up an otherwise drab affair. The exertions of the previous week's extra-time took an obvious toll on both sides as the pace of the game wasn't what most would have expected. Instead the game was a dour affair with both teams making plenty of mistakes and taking wrong options. That was partly responsible for O'Mahonys downfall. They kicked 12 wides, with many of the efforts coming from near-impossible situations and hopeful punts forward, while Wolfe Tones were more economical. they tallied five wides and scored six points from play, three from the enterprising Paul Byrne. Wolfe Tones were the better team and O'Mahonys can have no quibbles, although they will feel aggrieved that Corrigan was allowed play despite his red card in extra-time of the first game, while the players that picked up knocks for O'Mahonys in that extra-time were not at their best for Sunday's replay. It was obvious that several of the O'Mahonys stars were below par because of injury, but they were second best and failed to deliver against a superb Wolfe Tones half-back line that were immaculate throughout. Harrington had an exceptional game for the winners while Stephen Sheppard and Barry McGinn offered great support. Corrigan's inclusion at midfield negated the threat of Mark Ward and with Cian Ward getting the better of his tussle with Niall McKeigue and Niall McLoughlin also impressing along with Darren McGrath Wolfe Tones were the better side. When Cormac McGuinness opened the scoring after 23 seconds it appeared that O'Mahonys were going to be difficult to stop. However, they failed to score for another 11 minutes as two mammoth Cian Ward frees and a fine score from Sheppard edged Wolfe Tones into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead after six minutes. Simple, but impressive scores from Shane Crosby and Paddy Smyth restored parity before the end of the first-quarter, but that was the last time the sides were level as Wolfe Tones hit their stride impressively. Byrne and Cian Ward found acres of space to stretch the lead. Cian Ward made it 0-6 to 0-3 with a sublime sideline kick before David Bray responded with a free for O'Mahonys. The closing moments of the half belonged to Wolfe Tones as McGrath and Byrne were both on target to give Cathal O Bric's side their 0-8 to 0-4 interval advantage. The second-half was equally as dull. It took six minutes before there was any serious attack of note. Sheppard saw his fisted effort from McGrath's centre rebound off the crossbar and as O'Mahonys struggled to clear Mark Ward fouled Sheppard and Cian Ward converted the free. O'Mahonys slipped into panic mode and kicked five successive wides before Cian Ward extended Wolfe Tones' lead to 0-10 to 0-4 with another free. Henry Finnegan ended a 24-minute barren spell with a fine score for O'Mahonys and when Bray fisted over from a decent goal chance it felt as if it would not be O'Mahonys day. Sheppard came close to netting when his second fisted effort from a McGinn centre drifted wide, but with five minutes remaining Byrne made it 0-11 to 0-6. Murtagh and Gary O'Brien responded with points to leave just three between the teams. A 13-metre free gave O'Mahonys slim hope in injury-time, but Harrington did brilliantly to block scrambled efforts from Regan and Gillespie and book Wolfe Tones place in the final for the second time in four years. Wolfe Tones - D Nolan; R Brady, C McLoughl;in, C Martin; B McGinn, E Harrington, S Sheppard (0-1); G Beggy, S Corrigan; D McGrath (0-1), N McLoughlin, M Coleman; A Fox, C Ward (0-6, four frees, one sideline), P Byrne (0-3). Sub - A Callaghan for McGrath 60 mins. Navan O'Mahonys - M Brennan; C Reilly, N McKeigue, S O'Toole; C McGuinness (0-1), S Crosby (0-1), G O'Brien; B Regan, M Ward; L Russell, R Geraghty, H Finnegan (0-1); D Bray (0-2, one free), S McKeigue, P Smyth (0-1). Subs - D Maguire for Russell 38 mins, D Murtagh (0-1) for Geraghty 44m, S Gillespie for Smyth 54m, J Regan for S McKeigue 56m, D Moran for Finnegan 60m. Referee - Liam O'Brien (Duleek/Bellewstown).